When a boat is tied up against another object, such as a piling, a dock or another boat, a boat fender is frequently deployed to prevent damage to the hull of the boat the object or both. The boat fender is usually suspended alongside the hull by at least one rope, (hereinafter, "line"). One end of the line is attached to the fender and the other, free end is fastened to the protected boat in a manner that places the fender between the boat and object to be kept away.
Traditionally, deck cleats and rings have been used to hang boat fenders. These are usually mounted at fixed positions along the gunnel of the boat. The disadvantages of such fixed position fasteners are well recognized. For example, often they are not positioned horizontally, i.e., fore-to-aft, to effectively place the fender at the location needing protection. They also are usually at deck level, which requires the deckhand to stoop awkwardly to secure the line.
Recently, portable fender hanging fasteners have been developed. Such devices generally hang from lifelines or guard rafts commonly found on modem marine vessels, especially recreational craft. One representative commercial fastener of this type, called a "Fender Bender" includes a wire helix member for hanging a V-hook from a lifeline. The fender line is then fastened to the V-hook with a hitch knot. Two hands normally are necessary to adjust the knot to change the level of a fender. The helix member intertwines with the lifeline, which makes horizontal repositioning of a fender cumbersome and time-consuming. To move the Fender Bender past stanchions that are typically placed several feet apart along lifelines, the helix member must be extricated from the lifeline and intertwined at the desired new location.
Fender hangers known in the art suffer the drawback of the need to use two hands to adjust the position of a fender. For example, the anchor for suspending a boat fender disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,435 includes a hanger with several apertures. The fender line threads through the apertures in a path designed to jam the line on itself. The jammed line holds the fender at a desired elevation. However, adjusting the fender elevation requires two hands.
U.S. Pat. Des. No. 248,367 discloses a hanger for a boat fender which employs a strap with a closure button that prevents the hanger from accidentally falling off a lifeline or guard raft. Additionally, the hanger jams a hurled wheel against the fender line to fasten the line. In order to lower a fender, one hand is needed to lift the wheel away from the line, while a second hand tends the line.
Boat fenders are often deployed when the vessel is in motion approaching a dock or another boat. At such a time the deckhand needs to step lively to accomplish critical tasks in addition to deploying a single fender. For example, while simultaneously deploying one fender, the deckhand might need to tend a second fender, to tend a boathook, to haul in a dockline or to adjust a spring line. Frequently in recreational boating, the deckhand is an inexperienced guest. While attempting to obey the skipper's hurriedly issued commands when docking, such a neophyte deckhand can become so stressed that assigned duties, including deploying fenders properly, cannot be accomplished. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a boat fender hanger with which even an unskilled sailor can easily deploy a fender, thereby allowing the deckhand to attend to the skipper's orders and to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
It is another object of this invention to provide a boat fender hanger that permits vertical fender position adjustment without the need to use two hands.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a boat fender hanger that can be deployed and redeployed at different places on lifelines and guard rails without the need to use two hands.
Accordingly, there is now provided an adjustable hanger to be hung from a suspension cable having a cross section dimension, the hanger comprising:
an elongated body having an outboard face, an inboard face, a head and a foot; PA1 a bail on the outboard face of the foot, the bail defining an opening for passage of a line from an object to be suspended from the hanger; PA1 a ledge extending from the outboard face of the head at an acute angle with a plane coincident with the outboard face; PA1 a fairlead on the head to allow free vertical movement and restricted horizontal movement of the line; PA1 a back plate extending along a portion of the inboard face and spaced apart therefrom to define a channel having an open end proximate to the foot and adapted to receive the suspension cable; PA1 a bridge joining the elongated body and back plate, the bridge defining a closed end to the channel in a serpentine cross section adapted to pivotally support the hanger on the suspension cable; and PA1 a line attachment means on the ledge, bridge or back plate for releasably fastening the line to the hanger.